ABSTRACT
Our typical use of the concept of justice is in the evaluation of a society's institutions, principally its legal, political, and economic institutions. Given the inadequacy of the legal or political senses of justice, one might, of course, ask if there are any distinctively economic conceptions or senses of justice which can be used in their stead, such as one based upon the general idea of fair exchange. Justice in a society as a whole ought to be understood as a complete equality of the overall level of benefits and burdens of each member of that society. Each of the distributive maxims just mentioned ought to be viewed in restorative terms; each can be regarded as an attempt to restore a prior situation of complete equality in the overall level of burdens and benefits which could exist until certain upsetting factors come into play.
